Mother's Day | Readers offer words to describe their mothers

People responding to a Dispatch invitation to describe their mothers in a word chose a lot of strong ones. (Including strong.)

They told stories of women who set good examples, coped with loss, took risks, juggled duties and had fun.

They used adjectives such as bountiful and industrious and nouns such as glue, rock and conviction to capture the essence of their mothers.

On this Mother's Day, we present a stories from readers who sent us single, heartfelt words and told us why they chose them for their moms:

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Conviction

My mother, Daisy James, became a parent at 16. She had her third child by the age of 25, the same age at which she had divorce papers delivered to our father in prison.

Her life has been filled with challenges and disappointments; she saw few glimpses of sunlight during the rough years.

"Strong convictions precede great actions," the author and theologian James Freeman Clarke wrote.

Her conviction helped her produce the family's first female college graduate. This conviction was labeled "mean" or "strict" by us know-it-all teenagers, but, equipped with it, she raised two daughters and one son on the southeast side of Columbus.

None of us became teen parents, and all of us completed milestones she did not.

Her conviction regarding her family and "success" saved our lives on many occasions. Although I'm grateful, I also realize that, while she was saving our lives, she undoubtedly gave up her own.

We love this woman.

— Sufiy James, 39, Bexley

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Selfless

On a hot summer afternoon, just after my 12th birthday, Mom and I were in the kitchen cleaning up after lunch when a tall man in torn, dirty clothes climbed the steps onto our back porch.

Slowly approaching our kitchen door and peering through the screen, he said, "Excuse me, please; could you give me something to eat?"

Shy and introverted, Mom amazed me with her response. Instead of panicking, shutting the door and calling the police, she smiled warmly and calmly invited the stranger to have a seat on the porch while she prepared his lunch.

Mom heaped a pile of chipped-chopped ham between slices of bread, poured a generous cup of coffee, cut a large slice of her homemade apple pie, folded a napkin, placed everything neatly on a tray and took it outside to the man.

As I stood intently watching the man eat his lunch, Mom busily prepared more sandwiches, packing a bulging bag of food for the stranger to take with him.

The stranger placed both hands carefully on the bag. The contrast between his immaculately clean, manicured-looking fingernails and his dirty, tattered clothes struck me. Even more striking were his deep-blue, penetrating eyes and his parting words to my mom: "Thank you. God bless you."

Turning to Mom , I asked, "Mom, weren't you afraid of that man?"

"No, Marie," she answered. "Sometimes God sends angels into our live to test us. I think we just met one!"

At 93 now, Mom continues to set an example of selflessness for her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We are most grateful to have her in our lives.

— Marie Walter, 69, Westerville

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Sacred

My mother, Janice Carnes, is an 87-year-old goddess.

First,she and my father created me. How deep a thought is that?

I would have nothing without her. My mother taught me how to walk, she taught me how to talk, she taught me most everything. And after 62 years I've come to the conclusion that she did a pretty good job.

— Ted Chaffin, 62, Harrisburg

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Rock

My mother, Becky Todd, at age 12 lost her father after a long disease. She took in laundry, baby-sat, and spent a lot of time by herself as my grandmother had to find a job after the loss of my grandfather.

I was an only child. My parents' marriage I saw as so strong and fun. My father passed away at 52, and a year later my mother went through a major surgery. Then she went through a second surgery.

In 2010, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and my mom immediately sprang into action.

My dearest memory of this time was when mom drove to my home at 10 in the evening armed with all types of things ginger, trying to solve my nausea situation. She drove me to most of my chemotherapy sessions and to all of my radiation sessions.

Seven years later, she is still there to be my rock in other situations. She has done this with such strength and compassion. To have been raised by this amazing lady has been my blessing.

— Laura Burgoon, 59, Pickerington

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Industrious

At 91, my mom, Helen Guy, is still on the move. She drives wherever she and my dad need to go — to church, to Riverside Hospital to volunteer, to doctor appointments.

She takes care of my dad, ,she gardens, and she usually prepares three meals a day (without a microwave!). She crochets scarves to be given to those in need at Christmas . She cuts and sews lap blankets and small stuffed animals for the hospital. She also crafts hand-hooked rugs which she designs All of her children and grandchildren have received a rug.

My mother walks every day. If the weather is inclement, she rides a stationary bike in the basement.

All of her four surviving children are amazed at what she continues to accomplish and look to her as our role model.

— Kathy Sanders, 63, Dublin

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Everything

My mom, Lenore Thompson, was widowed at the age of 34 with seven children, ages 7 to 14.

She moved us from the projects to a house in Westerville. She taught us the value of family and unconditional love.

I am who I am today because of her; I owe everything to her.

She is sadly missed every day by my six siblings and I and her grandchildren.

— Dorothy Dennis, 57, Delaware

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Strong

My mother, Katie Roth, raised my siblings and me single-handedly after my father died in 2002. Three years later, she started her own business (a staffing service). It was a scary proposition for anyone but perhaps triply so for a woman, without a partner, with three mouths to feed. She continued to grow it until it was thriving and well-respected in my hometown.

Everything in her life was done with strength and resilience.

When I think about the reasons I love her, the reasons why she is an amazing mom, half of it is the classic stuff — imparting life lessons, guiding me to good decisions, picking me up when I fell down — but the other half is setting such a strong example of what a woman could be, and could do with her life.

— Clare Roth, 24, Columbus

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Unwavering

My mother, Susan Gill, is unwavering in her support of her family (and I am extremely blessed to be included as the eldest of four children). To explain further, I have been going through an emotional custody struggle, involving my two young children.

Also, I have a mental illness that my mom, Susan, guides me through so that I may be able to maintain balance in my life. My mom always puts other people before herself. She is absolutely amazing, and it is a privilege to be her daughter.

Thank you, Mom.

— Rachel DeLucian, 32, Hilliard

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Bountiful

My mother, Joyce Finan, has a seemingly endless supply of love and generosity that continues to endure with each generation. At age 82, she is enjoying five great grandchildren, after giving so much to her six grandchildren and four children.

At age 82, this past Easter, mom arranged two egg hunts, made baskets for and colored eggs with her two great granddaughters, ages 5 and 3. She then took them on a nature walk and made a huge dinner for the family.
My mother is, indeed, beautiful and most of all, bountiful.

— Kelley Finan, 57, Dublin

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Glue

My mother, Lois Ann Siferd, has been a nurse, a wife, a mother of five, my father's unofficial business partner, a Girl Scout leader, a Junior Leaguer, a bowler, a bridge player, a band-camp nurse and a detective.

She married into the funeral business, had five girls while living above the funeral home, answered the phone at all hours of the day and night (we ran the emergency service before EMS came to our town), and arranged deceased people's hair when no one else would.

Her command center was her kitchen, where she had two phones, a laundry area, a mangle iron, and lot of cupboards. She recycled before there was recycling. She paid it forward before it was the right thing to do. She made soup in an enormous pot and fed the elderly neighbors regularly.

Her memory is fading, but her love is still strong.

— Elizabeth Siferd, 59, Upper Arlington

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Quirky

It's not an insult; it's a word she uses to describe herself, with pride.

My mom, Pat Ruggaber, has an understated sense of humor, and she's really good with wordplay: puns, rewriting song lyrics, etc. (When my siblings and I were in college, she came up with limericks to describe the people we were dating.)

— Michelle Dougherty, 41, Gahanna

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Survivor

The youngest of five children, my mother -- Helen Steele Alspaugh -- and the rest of her family were abandoned by their father when she was very young. Her mother suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and had to clean houses and take in laundry, and my mother had to quit school to help with finances.

My mother took care of my grandmother until she died in her 80s. My mother married and raised two children during the Great Depression. (I was born later). My mother buried my father, buried my sister who also was stricken with rheumatoid arthritis, learned to drive in her 50s, went back to school when she was 60 to learn secretarial skills and obtain her GED.

She counted her pennies (but donated to food pantries), seldom went to a doctor, ate healthy foods and exercised, right up to the day she died of an aneurysm in her mid-90s.She also put up with a rebellious teenager -- me.

She taught me by example to never give up and never give in.

— Carol Schleich, 67, Lancaster

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Heroine

The first five years of my life, my mother -- Adriana Franz -- and I were POWs on the island of Java during World War II.

My mother sacrificed her own comfort in order to shield me as much as possible from the horrors of the rat-infested life behind barbed wire in the internment camp, even trading her ration of bread for a used teddy bear for me.

She was my protector, my shield, my guardian angel.

She was my mother.

— Irveline Evans, 76, Columbus

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Untamable

Dotti Lipetz was “untamable.” Pushing pastchildhood illness and poverty, Dotti Lipetz supported her fatherless family by illustrating 3-D images of war plane parts from blueprints during WWII. She fearlessly moved to Paris to study printmaking with the world renowned Stanley S. Hayter. Then she shared studio space with art professor, Sid Chafetz at Ohio State.

She had no reservations in moving to Japan to study with renowned artist, Iwata. Her works are in the permanent collection of fine museums throughout the world.

She was a poet, a writer, a performer, a superb cook, and an enthusiastic supporter of the arts. And with all this, she was still a great mom to three boys.

For several decades, Mom performed in Howling at the Moon. This women’s theater troupe opened each performance by reading one of Mom’s poems, which ends with the statement, “…determined not to let them tame us!”

Mom and the troupe would then raise a glass of sherry and howl. Mom passed away at 94 this year, still living at home, still writing and performing, and still untamable.

— Bob Lipetz, Columbus

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